How, When, and Where New Inhibitory Neurons Release Neurotransmitters in the Adult Olfactory Bulb

By C. Bardy, Mariana Alonso, W. Bouthour, Pierre Marie Lledo. 2010

62 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Adult-born neurons continuously incorporate into the olfactory bulb where they rapidly establish contacts with a variety of synaptic inputs. Little is known, however, about the functional properties of their output. Characterization of synaptic outputs from new neurons is essential to assess the functional impact of adult neurogenesis on mature circuits. Here, we used optogenetics to control neurotransmitter release from new neurons. We found that light-induced synaptic GABA release from adult-born neurons leads to profound modifications of postsynaptic target firing patterns. We revealed that functional output synapses form just after new cells acquire the faculty to spike, but most synapses were made a month later. Despite discrepancies in the timing of new synapse recruitment, the properties of postsynaptic signals remain constant. Remarkably, we found that all major cell types of the olfactory bulb circuit, including output neurons and several distinct subtypes of local interneurons, were contacted by adult-born neurons. Thus, this study provides new insights into how new neurons integrate into the adult neural network and may influence the sense of smell.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Materials Chemistry, Sensory Systems

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Citations in the corpus

Adult Neurogenesis in the Mammalian Brain: Significant Answers and Significant Questions (2011, background): “One recent study using an optogenetic approach has suggested that newborn neurons contact several distinct subtypes of local interneurons (Bardy et al., 2010), thus introducing dis-inhibition.”
Pattern separation: a common function for new neurons in hippocampus and olfactory bulb (2011, unknown): “Interestingly, adult-born cells synapse on to all major cell types in the OB (Bardy et al., 2010; Carleton et al., 2003; Panzanelli et al., 2009).”